The Atlantic ministers of education and training emerged from meetings in Halifax this week with a commitment to improve literacy rates in Atlantic Canada. Ministers will soon submit a literacy action plan to the Council of Atlantic Premiers that will focus on teacher training, sharing best practices, increasing collaboration among teachers from the Atlantic region, and promoting adult and workplace literacy.
The literacy action plan will form an integral part of the 2009-2012 Strategic Direction which was released by the ministers this week. The strategic direction document outlines steps that departments of education and training will undertake in public and post-secondary education over the next three years. Public education priorities include school readiness, educational leadership, instructional practices for all students, and numeracy skills, while post-secondary education and training priorities relate to increasing enrolment numbers in post-secondary education institutions, promoting quality assurance of post-secondary education, and increasing the number of skilled trades workers.
The Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training called on the federal government to include skills development as part of any federal economic stimulus package. Ministers recognize that the economic stimulus package should help train workers to prepare for the emerging economy.
One of the highlights of the meeting was a presentation on early years’ assessment by Doug Willms, a well-known researcher at the University of New Brunswick. Dr. Willms discussed with ministers the concept and the benefits of establishing an early years’ assessment system in the Atlantic provinces.
Ministers also established priorities in post-secondary education to ensure that students receive the best possible post-secondary education in their fields of study and are well-prepared to enter the labour force. They also emphasized the need to work with partners and stakeholders to respond to emerging issues affecting post-secondary education.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Darin King, Parliamentary Secretary to the Newfoundland and Labrador Minister of Education; Honourable Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick Minister of Education; Honourable Karen Casey, Nova Scotia Minister of Education; Honourable Mark Parent, Nova Scotia Minister of Labour and Workforce Development; Honourable Gerard Greenan, Prince Edward Island Minister of Education; and Honourable Richard Brown, Prince Edward Island Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning.
The Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET) is an agency of the Council of Atlantic Premiers (CAP) and its purpose is to enhance cooperation in public (Entry-Grade 12) and post-secondary education in Atlantic Canada by working together to improve learning, optimize efficiencies and bring added value to provincial initiatives.
2009-2012 Strategic Direction:
www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/CAMETStrategic.pdf